Method of isolating the segregate in ingots



Nov. 19, 1935. v G. A.IDOR/NIN 2,021,227

ING THE SEGREGATE IN INGO'I'S Filed. March 3, 1934 Y Z Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov.19,-1935.. GA ORNIN 2,021,221

Filed March 5 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 19 1935 METHOD OF ISOLATING 'rnn m moors sacaaca'rs George A. Dornin, nutlmo a'mlf I Application March 3, 1934'. Serial No. 713,549

10 Claims. (ores-160.4)

This invention relates to a method of salvaging the sound metal in ingots at their upper ends surrounding the pipe cavity and the segregated zone just under the pipe cavity. I As an ingot which has been poured gradually cools, the solidification of the metal results in shrinkage so that a cavity known as the piping forms centrally of the ingot andprincipally at its top. Moreover, a considerable proportion of 10v the impurities in the-molten metal becomes segregated during the congealing of the ingot, the

Y segregate being just below the piping. The extent to which the piping and segregate extend downwardly into the ingot can be mate- 16 rially lessened by employing the procedure described'and claimed in my copending application.

Serial No. 525,525, filed March '26,.1931. It is obviously desirable to thus limit the depth to which the metal to be isolatedextends, because of the expense of removing unsound metal which is deeply embedded in the ingot. My invention is not limited, however, to the-product of the particular process described in the above mentinned copending application. I

It is the customary practicewhere the piping and segregate are to be eliminated from the ingot to. cut oil the entire .top portion thereof; and the volume of the metal which is thus discarded and is only useful for remelting' is relatively large 80 as compared with, the volume of the total ingot.

. Attempts have been made to displace the zone of metal surrounding the central core or portion whichit is desired to isolate and remove, by forc- ,ing a .die axially of the ingot,fas disclosed, for instance, in the patent to Ball No. 1,680,493. The process therein disclosed has such drawbacks that it has never gone into commercial use. The principle therein set forth is fundamentally defective because the pressure of the die is effective for causing upward displacement of only the upper portion of the unsound metal in the segregate. It has been found impossible to force all of the impurities upwardly into an isolated projecting portion, as shown in Figure 6 of the Ball patent, vby his process. i 1

I In accordance with my invention, I produce cleavage by artificial means between the core in-' cluding the unsound metal to be isolated and the surrounding zone of metal. The gap or crevice produced between the core and the surrounding zone of metal permits'the latter to be reshaped without appreciably changing the shape of the core andby thus dividing the surrounding zone of metal-from the central core, I make it posslbleto displace this zone away from the core.

In this way, I so. isolate the unsound metal that itis found in the end portion-oi the rolled steel or can be separated and discarded in any desiredmanner, asby cropping before the ingot is further treated. In the accompanying drawings in which certain Y .embodlments .ofmy invention are illustrated:

Figure 1 is-a vertical section through an ingot showing the. pipe and underlying segregate;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through an ingot in which cleavage has been produced artificially between the core, which includes the metal to be v isolated, and the surrounding zone of good metal; Figure -3 is a vertical section through an ingot which has been. treated as shown in Figure 2 5 and then upset to displace the surrounding zone away from the core; Figure 4 is a--view in side elevation of the ingot of Figure 3 after reshaping to prepare the ingot for rolling;

Figures 5, 6, and 7 illustrate a modified embodiment of my invention; Figure 5 shows in vertical section au'ingot into which a cleavage instrument has been driven between the core and the surrounding zone of metal; Figure 6 is a view in central vertical section of this ingot after the surrounding zone'has been displaced outwardly and axially of the ingot; and Figure '7 is a vertical sectional view of the same ingot after the zone has been upset to cause the core to project and stand alone.

In the'lngot shown in Figure 1, the segregate ll'underlies the pipe cavity II, the segregate .extending downwardly in a cone shaped mass within surrounding metal I which is, for the most part, sound "and usable. If the customary procedure for eliminating the se regate I! were followed, the ingot would be cropped approximately as indicated by the broken line A-A. This means that the sound metal ll surrounding the segregate is cropped oil and used only for remelting. In order to recover this sound metal I4, I propose to produce cleavage between a central core I, which includes the unsound metal it to be insolated, and'the surrounding zone 46 ll of good metal, This cleavage. permits the sound metal I to be displaced away from and below the core, permitting the latter to project so as not to contaminate the body ofv the ingot. The principles of my invention have been 50 above stated broadly: and may be applied with various modifications which will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, in accordance with the requirements of the particular situation presented; In Figures 2, 3, and 4.1 have to may either be cropped at this ed in the metal discarded after subsequent forg- If the ingot has been heated up to the step is to change ,of the surrounding zone of good metal and the plied to the production of an ingot suitable for rolling. As shown in Figure 2. a cleavage. instrument ll, wedge-shaped in radial cross section, is rounding zone of metal ll. The preferred manner of producing such cleavage is; to fit the cleavage instrument II with a separable cutter ring is, in accordance with the teaching of my prior Patent No. 672,316, granted April 16, 1901.

The ring prevents the punch from stickin i the metal and is inexpensive, so that it can be replaced, whereas the instrument I. may be used again and again.

In this, the preferred embodiment of my in vention, the instrument It is a cone shaped body, so that it will wedge the metal ll outwardly during the punching operation. I have found that the angle of the wedge should be approximately 30".

In order to facilitate this punching operation,

the ingot may be acted upon while it is still at a sumciently elevated temperature to be plastic, or after the ingot has been heated up to such temperature. In order to prevent upsetting of the lower end of the ingot, it may be confined within acontaining-die 2|. A plug 2 I in the bottom of this die is useful for pushing the ingot up out of the die, in case the ingot 'should stick. plastic temperature by concentrating the heat in the. upper portion of the ingot (preferably about the upper half) leaving the lower portion sufllciently cool to resist deformation, the die 2i is unnecessary.

The surrounding zone of good metal has now been separated from the core l8; and the next the relative vertical locations core II. This, as illustrated in Fig. 3, may be accomplished'by an upsetting operation, using an upsetting die I..

The upsetting operation causes the zone of metal II to be pushed downwardly and become a part of the body of the ingot. Due. to the plastic condition of the metal, a bulge 22 of the ingot, which is not is formed 'at' the top objectionable ii the ingot is to be further forged in producing the desired shapes. The core II projects from the upper end of the ingot; and

time or be including operations. The steps oi dividing the core from the surrounding zone oi metal and then changing the relative yertical locations of the surrounding zone of metal and the core containing the segregate leave the core in such position relative to the ingot that it no longer requires cropping of sound metal along with the unsound core.

For rolling in a rolling mill, the shape of the ingot as shown in'Fig. 3 is unwieldy; and a further step of forging is in that case preferably added to reduce the section of the bulging portion 22 of the ingot so that for rolling. The ingot shown in Fig. 4 has been thus forged to reduced the enlarged portion 22 to substantially itsoriginal section.

In accordance with the modification of my invention illustrated in Figs. 5, 6', and 7, a cleavage instrument 23 is driven down into the top of the ingot to divide the core i6 including the expanding die 26 is pushed downwardly into the cleavage thus produced." The face'll of the die II which engages the surrounding zone of metal driven between the core II and the surit may be suitable should be disposed at an angle to the horizontal so as to deflect the surrounding zone of metal outwardly. The next step is to displace the surrounding zone of metal into the body .of the ingot as illustrated in Fig. '1. Obviously, if an 5 ingot suitable for rolling is desired, the ingot shown in Fig. 7 may be further forged to suitable shape for rolling as above described in connection with Fig. 4.

In both embodiments of the invention, the surrounding zone of metal is divided from the core including the unsound metal to be isolated. In an ingot poured in a mold ofv generally round cross-section, such as octagon and dodecagon molds, the segregate is substantially cone-shaped, 15 and the cleavage instrument should correspondingly have a substantially circular cutting. edge. with molds whose cross-section is elongated, such as rectangular molds, the ingot will have a segthe .surroun carrying out the same, it will be understood regate-whose shape is similar to with the corners rounded oil. strument will, therefore, have a cutting edge which, instead of being circular, will correspond substantially to the shape of the segregate; and may for instance be substantially elliptical, or a circle, flattened on two sides. The opening in the die 16 and in the upsetting. die "will be sufflciently larger than the core it so as not to touch or bind on the core during the expanding or upsetting operations.

The purpose of deflecting the surrounding zone of metal outwardly is to better prepare it for the upsetting operation. When a mass of plastic metal is upset, there is a bulge formed; and if g'zone of metal were merely di-. vided from the central core as shown in Fig. 5. the upsetting operation would cause this zone of metal to overlap back on the cylindrical core during the upsetting operation, and might bring about a welding of the two together which would defeat the purpose of the flrst step of the process. The deflection of the surrounding zone is sufficient if the angle of the wedge is substantially 30' to the vertical. The deflection is accom- The cleavage inplished in the first embodiment in the same stepin which the'cleavage is effected. In the second 4 embodiment, this is accomplished in two steps. In the specification and claims I have used the term artificial cleavage to distinguish the predetermined cleavage effected in accordance with tion or cleavage which not be over 2% of the weight of the ingot. There are other inescapeable losses, such as the scale loss incurred in heating the ingots, and the bottom prop; but it is possible to limit the total losses to from 5 to 7%, leaving93 to 95% ofgood product. It is considered good practice in producing big-end-up sink-head ingots to, obtain 80 to 82% good product. It will be apparent, therefore, that the expense incurred in treating an ingot in accordance with my invention is small compared with the saving which can be effected.

While I have illustrated and described certain embodiments which my invention may assume, and certain equipment which may be employed inthat the practice of the invention is not dependent upon the particular equipment reierredto and may be otherwise embodied andpracticed within the scope of the following claims. i

that of the mold 2o of the isolated segregated metal in the cylindrical core is need I claim:

1. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of making a gap or crevice between a core including the unsound metal to be isolated and the surrounding zone I.

of metal, without sumantial displacement of the core axially of the ingot to divide said core from said zone, and displacing said zone away from said core.-

2. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of making an in- "cision between a core includingthe unsound metal to be isolated and a surrounding zone of-metal,

and thereafter upsetting said zone to displace the good metal away from said core. 1

3. Ina method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of wedging a surrounding zone of metal away from a central core including the unsound metaltto beisolated, and

v the ingot.

j mm lie. 1,021,227.

numbered patent requiring- I, after "and" I this correction Patent Giflce.

riding the unsound me 5. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of artificially dividing the unsound metal of an ingotfrom the sound metal that surrounds it, and then'changing the relative vertical locations of this good metal and unsound metal by upsetting the good metal only.

6. In the method of isolating unsoundmetal of an ingot, the steps consisting of artificially dioi an ingot from the soundinetai that surro. it, then changing the CERTIFICATE or contends.

stones A DORNIN.

relative vertical locations of this good metal and unsound metal by upsetting the good metal only,

and then forging the enlarged upset end of the ingot substantially back'to its original size.

7. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an, ingot, the steps consisting of dividing a surrounding zone of metal from a central core ineluding the unsound metal to be isolated, upsetting said zone axially of the ingot and then forging the upset portion of the ingot to displace 10 the upset ,metal inwardly.

8. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot the steps consisting of wedging a surrounding zone of metal away from a central core including the unsoundmetal to be isolated, upsetl5 ting said zone and then forging the upset portion of the ingot to reduce said portion substantially to its original section.

9. Ina method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of wedging a surround- 20 ing zone of metal away from a central core including the. unsound metal to be isolated, the angleof the wedge being not less than about 30, and changing the relative vertical locations of the surrounding zone and central core by .up-

setting the surrounding zone of metal only.

.10. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting. of dividing a surrounding zone of metalfrom a central core including the unsound metal to be-isolated, deflecting the surrounding zoneof metal away from the core by an included angle of at least about 30, and displacing said surrounding zone axially of the ingot.

" November 1 9. 1935.

it is hereby-certified that, error appears in the printed specificstionot the above correction ss-lol lows:

Signed airm this 7th day oi J-iiuary, A: D. 1936.

- 7 Leslie Frazer Acting Comniisslqaer of Patents.

GEORGE a normm. 86

I g g r. g Page 3, first column, line 8, claim 1nser,t 'thereafter; and 'thst'ihe said Letters Patent should be read withiherein that the same may conform to the, record of the, case in the I claim:

1. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of making a gap or crevice between a core including the unsound metal to be isolated and the surrounding zone I.

of metal, without sumantial displacement of the core axially of the ingot to divide said core from said zone, and displacing said zone away from said core.-

2. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of making an in- "cision between a core includingthe unsound metal to be isolated and a surrounding zone of-metal,

and thereafter upsetting said zone to displace the good metal away from said core. 1

3. Ina method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of wedging a surrounding zone of metal away from a central core including the unsound metaltto beisolated, and

v the ingot.

j mm lie. 1,021,227.

numbered patent requiring- I, after "and" I this correction Patent Giflce.

riding the unsound me 5. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of artificially dividing the unsound metal of an ingotfrom the sound metal that surrounds it, and then'changing the relative vertical locations of this good metal and unsound metal by upsetting the good metal only.

6. In the method of isolating unsoundmetal of an ingot, the steps consisting of artificially dioi an ingot from the soundinetai that surro. it, then changing the CERTIFICATE or contends.

stones A DORNIN.

relative vertical locations of this good metal and unsound metal by upsetting the good metal only,

and then forging the enlarged upset end of the ingot substantially back'to its original size.

7. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an, ingot, the steps consisting of dividing a surrounding zone of metal from a central core ineluding the unsound metal to be isolated, upsetting said zone axially of the ingot and then forging the upset portion of the ingot to displace 10 the upset ,metal inwardly.

8. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot the steps consisting of wedging a surrounding zone of metal away from a central core including the unsoundmetal to be isolated, upsetl5 ting said zone and then forging the upset portion of the ingot to reduce said portion substantially to its original section.

9. Ina method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting of wedging a surround- 20 ing zone of metal away from a central core including the. unsound metal to be isolated, the angleof the wedge being not less than about 30, and changing the relative vertical locations of the surrounding zone and central core by .up-

setting the surrounding zone of metal only.

.10. In a method of isolating unsound metal of an ingot, the steps consisting. of dividing a surrounding zone of metalfrom a central core including the unsound metal to be-isolated, deflecting the surrounding zoneof metal away from the core by an included angle of at least about 30, and displacing said surrounding zone axially of the ingot.

" November 1 9. 1935.

it is hereby-certified that, error appears in the printed specificstionot the above correction ss-lol lows:

Signed airm this 7th day oi J-iiuary, A: D. 1936.

- 7 Leslie Frazer Acting Comniisslqaer of Patents.

GEORGE a normm. 86

I g g r. g Page 3, first column, line 8, claim 1nser,t 'thereafter; and 'thst'ihe said Letters Patent should be read withiherein that the same may conform to the, record of the, case in the 

